Tasty Thai is Just a Cookbook Away!

After I got home from work as a teacher in Thailand, I’d stroll down my soi (street) and grab dinner for that night, as well as some fruit to have in the morning for breakfast. My dinner was usually som tam (green papaya salad) and BBQ chicken from the street vendor I called “Mom and Dad” because they were so warm and welcoming to me, a foreigner away from my family.

Forget what you think you know about Thai food. The peanut-heavy, saucy stuff you get at take-out “Thai” restaurants is not real Thai food. Now that I’m away from Thailand, I love to cook Thai food at home, and having a good guide is key. Let’s look at some basics of Thai food and try to find the best Thai cookbook.

About Thai Food

Salty, sweet, sour, and spicy!—you get so many flavors in any given Thai dish. While living in Thailand, I learned some interesting things about this fascinating, delicious cuisine and the people who eat it.

Thai food is fresh. Many dishes cook up quickly, and fresh fruits and vegetables factor in very heavily in the cuisine. It’s not all drenched in peanut sauce (in fact, I hardly ever had peanut sauce!).

As with many national cuisines, there are regional and social variations in Thai cuisine. People in the country cook more, so “country” food takes on a home cooking feel. Then there’s “Royal Thai cuisine,” which is what, as a tourist, you might learn in a cooking class or have at a nice restaurant.

Then there’s Thailand’s legendary street food—Thailand is considered the street food capital of the world. Wok stir-fry dishes, curries, noodle dishes, meat on a stick, fresh fruit, fried bugs (!!!)—there is such a rich variety of tastes on the streets of Thailand’s cities and towns. And it is so astoundingly delicious, you rarely have to step foot in a more traditional restaurant.

Many Thai people, especially in the city, don’t cook very often (many Thai homes don’t even have a full kitchen!). Why bother, when it’s hot outside and the street food is cheap, abundant, and delicious? Instead, Thai people love to snack and graze: big meals are rare and they fill in the gaps with little snacks from street stalls.

Finding the Best Thai Cookbook

Finding a the best Thai cookbook can be a challenge when you take into account all of these aspects of Thai cooking, and the fact that finding some of the essential ingredients can be difficult outside of Thailand. So let’s take a look at some of the better options.

This cookbook is the one that comes up in every discussion of Thai cookery books. It is considered the authority on Thai cooking.

Thompson doesn’t just provide a number of recipes, but truly gives an education on Thai cooking—the ingredients, techniques, and history of this rich cuisine. The collection is laid out by type of dish (soup, salad, snacks, etc), and includes everything from street food snacks to “Royal Thai” traditional mains, and sauces.

Novice cooks may find this one difficult, as will people who lack access to a good Asian market. Thompson aims to educate the reader on real, authentic Thai food, so he uses ingredients and techniques that can be time consuming for some dishes.

Pok Pok is a small but beloved chain of Thai restaurants in the US. This cookbook is written by the restaurant’s owner, who’d travelled in Thailand for decades studying its food.

This book is filled with stories of Ricker’s travels in Thailand, as well as a number of very authentic recipes. Even a quick view shows you that the recipes are highly detailed and don’t sacrifice authenticity for convenience. It’s not for a beginner-level cook.

One complaint about the book is the visual style. Colorful, changes in typeface and graphics mimic the sort of frenzied style of the Pok Pok restaurants, but some find this distracting.

McDermott is best known for her Thai cookbook, Real Thai. In this book, she offers adaptations and shortcuts to provide a guide for quick Thai cooking.

As such, the recipes aren’t 100% authentic. She includes pre-made curry paste, for example. But this makes the recipes much more accessible for busy and amateur cooks, and those with limited access to Thai ingredients who nevertheless want to cook Thai food at home.

Decision Time!

Well, I need to add to my cookbook collection. Although these all sound amazing, I’ll be picking up Thailand: The Beautiful Cookbook for my own collection. I look forward to being transported back to beautiful Thailand with these amazing photos, and also cooking delicious, authentic Thai dishes.

My name is Sabrina. I’m a total foodie and a wanderlust-driven traveler. Throughout my travels, I’ve been able to taste many cultures and curate a ton of recipes! I truly hope you enjoy the recipes I’ve been able to enlighten you with through the power of blogging.